Mancala is one of the oldest board games in the world. Rows of holes dug into rock have been found in several ancient civilizations, although their playful purpose is still not clear. The oldest written references to the game, dating from the 17th century, are found in reports by travelers who seem to have had little understanding of the rules. The first systematic studies of mancala appeared in the 1890s, revealing many variations as well as the wide distribution of the game.

The use of mancala has followed well-known trade routes, including the slave trade to the Americas and along the coasts of the Indian Ocean. Although mancala has long been seen as an African game, recent research has shown that large parts of Central, South, and Southeast Asia are densely populated with players who use a diversity of boards, strategies, and rules.

In Africa, where every country has some variant of the game, mancala is played by adults and children, men, and women. In many African communities, men are the main players, and frequently play outdoors, but there are also variations enjoyed by women and children. Sometimes boards are quickly dug in the sand or drawn on the pavement. Other games are played with elaborately sculpted boards, found most often in West Africa. Mancala has played a role in the accession of kings, in funerary rites, in divination ceremonies, and in many kinds of celebration. It is also played in serious competitions, with championship matches and well-known master players.

Ayo olokpo players, Ife, Nigeria, 2006. Photo: Enid Schildkrout.	Master player of bao, Mikunguni, Stone Town. Zanzibar, Tanzania, 1994. Photo: Alex de Voogt.

RULES OF THE GAME
Mancala is a fast and dynamic game in which many counters change place during each player's turn. Some variations of mancala are meant for children and are understood in minutes; others require weeks to master, even by experienced players, and are predominantly played in clubs.

Moves consist of emptying a hole and spreading its counters one-by-one in consecutive holes. A player wins by capturing the majority of the counters or by emptying one or more of an opponent's rows. Rules for capturing counters are notoriously diverse and range from taking what is next to a specific hole to capturing holes that have a specified number of counters.

The size of the board does not always reflect the complexity of the rules or even the duration of the game. A common West African variation, also found in the Caribbean, consists of two rows of six holes. Many games can be played on this board but the best-known variations are called wari, awele, awari, or oware. The rules are simple and the strategies are endless.

Katra players, Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, 1998. Photo: Alex de Voogt.	Warri players, Speightstown, Barbados, 1996. Photo: Alex de Voogt.

In East Africa there are boards with two, three, four, and even six rows of holes. Four-row games are the most common and are played by children as well as by adults in tournaments. Some mancala boards are so large that the games are played in teams, since one player cannot easily reach the extremities of the board. Games may last from only a few minutes to several hours.

The most complex game, known as bao, is played on the East African coast. The boards have four rows of eight holes and often two square holes in the center of the board. It can take weeks to master the rules, but the excitement of the game has attracted competitive players for more than two hundred years.

BOARDS AS ART
Beyond their use for play or competition, sculptured boards reflect a community's artistic and cultural traditions. Images of divinities, people, and animals refer to myths, origin stories, and symbols of power. Boards are treasured objects and are sometimes given as prestigious gifts. An Asante board from Ghana, for example, is carved in the form of a stool -- the symbolic seat of power and the container, after death, of the soul of a ruler or family head. A Dan board adorned with a beautifully coiffed woman's head celebrates the fertility of women and the rice harvest. A Yoruba board with a carved head incorporates an image of Eshu, the trickster deity.

The polished appearances of well-used mancala boards show years of use and intensive play. The deceptively simple principle of mancala holds the potential for an incalculable variety of games combining tradition, play, and artistry. The boards in ARTWORK/ARTPLAY: AFRICAN GAME BOARDS demonstrate some of the local variations of a game that is also an art form.

Further reading:
Murray, H.J.R. 2001 (1951). A History of Board Games Other Than Chess. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.

Voogt, A.J. de 2005. A Question of Excellence: A Century of African Masters. Africa World Press.

The exhibition ARTWORK/ARTPLAY: AFRICAN GAME BOARDS was created by the Museum for African Art in consultation with Dr. Alex de Voogt. All the boards displayed in the exhibition are on loan from the Polumbaum Collection. This program is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Photographs of mancala boards by Robert Lorenzson.